VIRGINIA  LIBRARY 


Zihvaxy  of  Che  theological  ^eminarjo 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

The  Estate  of 
Rev,  Robert  0.  Kirkwood 

BV  4070  .M366  E8  1896 
McCormick  Theological 

Seminary. 
Exercises  at  the  dedication 

of  the  Virainia  Lihrarv  of 


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THE  VIRGINIA  LIBRARY  OF  THE 
McCORMICK  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 
OF   THE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 


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EXERCISES  AT  THE  DEDICATION 


THE  VIRGINIA  LIBRARY 


McCORMICK  THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY 

OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 


I 


MAY    6,   MDCCCXCVI 


L     w>- 


^  T  A  MEETING  of  the  Board  of  Direc- 
/\        TORS  OF  McCoRMicK  Theological  Semi- 

/  \  NARY  HELD  ApRIL  6,  I892,  Mr.  CyRUS 
H.  McCoRMICK  ANNOUNCED  THE  PURPOSE 
OF  HIS  MOTHER,  MrS.  NeTTIE  FoWLER  McCoR- 
MICK,  TO  ERECT  FOR  THE  SeMINARY  A  LIBRARY  BUILD- 
ing, two  years  were  spent  in  studying  and 
completing  plans  under  the  supervision  of 
Messrs.  Shepley,  Rutan  and  Coolidge,  archi- 
tects, AND  THE  erection  OF  THE  BUILDING  WAS 
BEGUN  IN  THE  SPRING  OF  1 894.  ThE  WORK  WAS 
COMPLETED  IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  1895,  ^^^  "^^^ 
BUILDING  OCCUPIED  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SEMI- 
NARY TERM,  THE  FOLLOWING  SEPTEMBER. 


Dedicatory   Exercises 


Program 

THE  dedicatory  services  were  held  in  con- 
nection with  the  commencement  exercises 
of  the  Seminary,  on  Wednesday  evening, 
May  6,  1896,  under  the  following  program: 

Prayer,  by  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Niccolls,  D.D.,  of 
St.  Louis. 

Address,  by  Rev.  Willis  G.  Craig,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Chairman  of  the  Faculty. 

Letter  from  Mrs.  Nettie  Fowler  McCormick. 

Presentation  of  the  building,  by  Cyrus  H.  Mc- 
Cormick. 

Address  of  acceptance,  by  Mr.  Thomas  Dent, 
President  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Dedication  address,  by  Rev.  Howard  Duffield, 
D.D.,  of  New  York. 


Dedicatory  Exercises 


ADDRESS  BY 
REV.  WILLIS  G.  GRAIG,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Chairman  of  the  Faculty 

THIS  occasion  is  of  the  profoundest  interest, 
not  only  to  the  brilHant  company  pres- 
ent, but  to  the  wide  circle  of  Presbyterians 
who  look  to  this  institution  as  a  center  of  theological 
education. 

In  planning  the  noble  buildings  that  adorn  this 
campus,  we  constantly  looked  forward  to  the  erec- 
tion of  a  suitable  home  for  our  valuable  books. 

We  have  ever  appreciated  the  importance  of  a 
large  and  varied  library  as  one  of  the  chief  means 
of  forwarding  the  interests  of  liberal  and  exact  theo- 
logical culture,  and  it  has  been  our  urgent  desire  to 
provide  here  an  edifice  of  sufficient  capacity  to  receive 
books,  in  ever- increasing  numbers,  suited  to  the 
demands  of  the  age,  and  fitted  to  keep  our  profes- 
sors and  students  informed  upon  every  healthful 
advance  in  true  learning. 

As  we  stand  within  this  beautiful  building  we 
find  that  our  ardent  wishes  have  been  more  than 
realized,  for  even  the  boldest,  in  the  days  gone  by, 
could  not  have  hoped  for  a  structure  of  such  ele- 
gance and  purity  of  design,  such  completeness  of 
adaptation,  and  such  perfection  of  finish  as  now 
greets  the  eyes  of  this  assembled  company. 

To  the  exquisite  taste  and  open-handed  liberality 
of  our  beloved  friend,  Mrs.  Nettie  Fowler  McCor- 
mick,  we  owe  this  building,  and  it  is  a  delight  to 


Dedicatory  Exercises  7 

express  our  sense  of  obligation  to  the  donor  of  the 
beautiful  library  which  has  no  rival  among  theolo- 
gical schools.  The  admiration  and  affection  of  conse- 
crated men  who  have  been  trained  in  this  institution, 
and  who  are  preaching  the  imperishable  Word  in 
every  clime,  will  ever  be  freely  accorded  to  Mrs. 
McCormick  and  her  family. 

Allow  me  to  introduce  Mr.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick, 
who  will  represent  his  mother  on  this  occasion. 


Dedicatory  Exercises 


LETTER  FROM  MRS.  McCORMICK 

Mr.  McCormick  read  the  following  letter: 

Florence,  Italy,  April  21,  1896. 

THE  Board  of  Directors  of  McCormick 
Theological  Seminary:  Gentlemen^ — It 
is  a  great  disappointment  that  I  am  unable 
to  share  personally  in  the  opening  of  the  Virginia 
Library,  which,  by  a  coincidence,  occurs  on  the  birth- 
day of  my  daughter,  whose  name  the  library  bears ; 
but  I  feel  I  am  fitly  represented  by  my  son,  who 
will  bring  this  greeting  and  deliver  to  you  the  keys. 

The  completion  of  this  library  marks  a  step  in 
the  progress,  dear  to  my   heart,  of  the  Seminary. 

Progress  is  made,  either  by  finding  new  channels 
of  effort,  or  by  strengthening  and  systematizing 
existing  resources.  This  new  building,  intended  as 
a  domicile  for  the  best  intellectual  and  spiritual  life, 
falls  under  the  latter  head.  The  Seminary  has  been 
growing  in  wonderful  measure.  Its  chairs  of  instruc- 
tion have  been  doubled,  its  roll  of  students  has  mul- 
tiplied, and  its  influence  greatly  widened.  The 
excellence  and  thoroughness  of  its  instruction  have 
attracted  hither  large  numbers  of  students  who,  in 
their  turn,  have  extended  its  fame  and  proved  its 
good  training  by  their  own  efficient  and  faithful 
ministry. 

You  have  already  reached  great  heights,  but,  just 
as  a  traveler  halts  upon  the  crest  of  a  summit  gained, 
to  take  fresh  breath  and  gird  himself  anew,  that  he 


Dedicatory  Exercises 


may  with  greater  power  and  to  better  advantage 
attack  the  steeps  which  hold  the  road  to  higher 
glories,  so  I  trust  this  building  may  be  such  an 
advance  in  equipment  as  will  give  renewed  life  and 
greater  vigor  in  your  forward  march. 

May  its  free  expanse  and  wide  proportions  be 
symbolic  of  the  great  ideas  its  walls  shall  harbor; 
of  the  largeness  of  view  and  freedom  of  thought 
which  has  ever  been  the  key  of  true  progress ;  and 
of  the  lofty  ideals  and  purposes  to  which  this  dedi- 
cation consecrates  it.  And  may  the  firmness  of  its 
construction,  the  ever-enduring  quality  of  its  mar- 
ble and  stone  and  iron,  be  also  symbolic  of  the  kind 
of  support  which  Truth  will  ever  find  here,  and  of 
the  endurance  of  such  enlightened  and  sound  inter- 
pretation of  the  Bible  as  our  classes  now  receive 
from  our  present  professors! 

How  it  would  have  rejoiced  the  hearts  of  many 
of  those  who  labored,  while  on  earth,  for  the  institu- 
tion of  their  love,  to  see  this  finished  house!  By 
faith  they  saw  these  walls  arise  which  you  now  see 
in  substance,  —  many  of  the  dear  old  professors,  many 
of  the  faithful  directors  and  trustees,  of  the  early 
days,  whose  faces  we  shall  see  no  more. 

To  no  one  of  these  would  the  library  be  a  greater 
joy  than  to  my  dear  and  honored  husband,  who, 
with  them,  stood  by  the  Seminary  through  storm 
and  cloud.  The  impulse  to  build  this  new  home 
for  the  books  .came  from  a  wish  to  carry  forward 
his  work,  and  to  strengthen  the  foundation  which  he 
laid,  and    to  his  earnest  purpose  it  is  therefore   a 


lo  Dedicatory  Exercises 

monument.     And   this  is  given   to   you  in  sacred 
trust  for  the  institution  under  your  care. 

In  storing  up  truth  for  future  ages  the  Virginia 
Library  will  be  helping  to  make  the  Seminary  an 
ever-increasing  center  of  light,  whose  rays  shall 
spread  not  only  over  the  great  Northwest,  but  to 
every  corner  of  the  earth,  until  the  shadows  flee 
away.      Very  sincerely  yours, 

Nettie  Fowler  McCormick. 


Dedicatory  Exercises  i  i 

ADDRESS  OF  PRESENTATION  BY 
CYRUS  H.  McCORMICK 

MR. President,  Ladies,  and  Gentlemen, — 
In  the  world  of  nature  we  find  that  by 
transplanting  and  engrafting,  results  are 
secured  which  produce  a  hardier  plant,  a  more  pro- 
ductive fruit,  a  flower  of  greater  beauty.  By  this 
principle  the  skillful  botanist  improves  the  vitality 
of  his  trees  and  plants,  and  secures  to  the  world 
more  perfect  effects  of  fragrance,  form,  and  color. 

We  are  met  together  this  evening  to  complete  a 
transplanting  which  has  been  in  progress  for  two 
years,  where  the  fertile  brain  and  skillful  hand  of 
the  architect  have  sought  to  graft  upon  the  sturdy 
stem  of  an  American  school  of  religious  teaching  one 
of  the  flowers  of  classic  architecture.  Architect  and 
artisan  have  completed  their  work,  and  to-night  we 
see  in  this  edifice  the  realization  of  many  hopes  and 
prayers  for  the  facilities  of  study  and  research  here 
afforded.  It  is  a  matter  of  the  deepest  regret  that 
the  one  who  would  have  been  the  central  figure  is 
far  from  this  interesting  scene.  But  she  is  with  us 
at  this  moment  in  spirit,  and  has  sent,  through  me,  a 
message  of  cordial  greeting  to  all  the  friends  who 
have  gathered  to  celebrate  the  dedication  of  this 
building.  During  its  construction  she  made  every 
detail  a  personal  interest,  and  her  active  mind  passed 
upon  all  the  problems  of  architectural  and  decorative 
work.  To  participate  in  this  auspicious  occasion  is 
denied  her,  but  the  knowledge  of  the  important  use 


12  Dedicatory  Exercises 

of  this  building  will  be  her  grateful  pleasure  through 
all  time. 

A  beautiful  library  should  be  an  inspiration  to 
every  student.  It  represents  the  higher  aspirations 
of  the  heart  to  seek  the  true  and  the  good.  May 
the  spirit  of  her  who  planned  and  built  it  stimulate 
the  heart  of  every  man  who  studies  within  its  walls. 
Will  it  not  stir  him  to  remember,  as  he  goes  forth 
from  this  school,  the  many  others  who  are  to  follow 
him  in  these  classes, 

"  And,  departing,  leave  behind  him 

Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time," — 

footprints  which  will  show  the  pathway  hither  to 
some  worthy  successor? 

And  let  us  not  forget  the  days  of  small  beginnings, 
nor  fail  to  do  honor  to  the  leaders  of  the  early  days. 
It  is  not  so  long  since  this  campus  was  but  a  rough 
field  of  weeds,  and  the  total  enrollment  of  students 
was  less  than  a  score.  We  are  grateful  that  one 
beloved  professor.  Dr.  Halsey,  is  still  with  us,  who 
knew  those  early  days,  who  bore  so  nobly  the  bur- 
den of  that  early  struggle,  and  who  now  can  see  the 
abundant  fruition  of  those  seeds  planted  by  toil  and 
nurtured  by  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  to  this  great 
cause.  May  his  days  among  us  be  many,  and  his 
strength  be  spared  to  give  us  the  benefit  of  his 
counsel  and  his  sympathy  as  we  go  forward  with  the 
work  which  is  committed  to  our  hands. 

This  occasion  naturally  suggests  the  deep  interest 
which  my  honored  father  took  in  every  plan  for  the 
benefit  of  this  Seminary.     He  carried  its  interests 


Dedicatory   Exercises  13 

uppermost  in  his  heart,  and  he  had  an  abiding  faith 
that  the  time  would  soon  come  when  the  heart  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  would  be  awakened  to  its 
vital  interests,  and  adequate  means  would  be  pro- 
vided with  which  to  care  for  and  teach  all  the  worthy 
men  who  come  knocking  at  our  doors  for  education 
for  the  ministry.  Would  that  he  might  have  been 
permitted  to  join  with  us  to-night  in  this  ceremony! 
Mr.  President  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  it  only 
remains  for  me,  on  behalf  of  and  by  the  direction 
of  my  mother,  to  hand  you,  as  representing  the  gov- 
erning body  of  this  institution,  the  keys  of  this  build- 
ing. Jt  is  complete  and  ready  for  the  reception  and 
study  of  the  books  of  this  Seminary,  and  is  the  gift 
of  my  mother  to  the  McCormick  Theological  Semi- 
nary of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  be  held  by  this 
Seminary,  in  trust,  for  the  purpose  of  theological 
training  according  to  the  standards  of  our  Church. 


14  Dedicatory  Exercises 

ADDRESS  OF  ACCEPTANCE  BY 
MR.  THOMAS  DENT 

President  of  the  Board  of  Directors 

MR.McCormicKjLadies,  AND  Gentlemen — 
In  accepting  from  the  hand  of  Mr.  Mc- 
Cormick  this  key,  symbolizing  the  deUv- 
ery  of  this  building,  something  more  than  merely 
formal  thanks  in  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  McCormick  Theological  Seminary  should  be 
expressed. 

This  building  is  an  eloquent  memorial.  Its  pres- 
entation to  the  Seminary  is  one  of  many  acts  of 
kindness  and  generosity,  showing  the  interest  of  the 
family  of  the  donor  in  the  great  object  for  which  this 
Seminary  was  founded, — the  education  and  training 
of  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry.  That  high 
and  noble  object  actuated  the  late  Cyrus  Hall  McCor- 
mick in  offering,  in  May,  1859,  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  the  endowment  of  four  professorships  in 
a  theological  seminary  to  be  located  in  or  near  Chi- 
cago. He  regarded  the  enterprise,  to  use  his  own 
words,  "  as  of  the  greatest  importance  not  only  to 
the  religious  but  also  to  the  general  interests  of  the 
country."  His  offer  was  accepted  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  its  meet- 
ing in  Indianapolis  in  that  year,  and  was  character- 
ized, in  one  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Assembly  pre- 
sented by  Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin  M.  Palmer  of  New 
Orleans,  as  a  "  munificent  donation."  Such  it  truly 
was  in  that  time  of  severe  financial  depression.     It 


Dedicatory   Exercises  15 

was  a  controlling  factor  in  causing  the  Seminary  to 
be  located  in  this  city,  and  in  drawing  to  it  the  same 
genial  influences  which  had  pervaded  the  work  of 
the  Seminary  when  organized  and  conducted,  first  at 
Hanover,  Indiana,  and  afterwards,  at  New  Albany, 
in  that  state.  Action  was  taken  so  that  the  Seminary, 
whose  work  dated  back  to  1830,  and  in  a  measure 
to  about  the  ist  of  January,  1827,  found  its  perma- 
nent home  in  this  city;  and  the  present  institution 
became  in  1859,  under  its  then  name,  "The  Pres- 
byterian Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest," 
the  ecclesiastical  and  legal  successor  of  the  seminary 
which  had  so  long  been  under  synodical  control  at 
Hanover  and  New  Albany.  Geographical  conside- 
rations were  important  in  determining  the  location, 
but  Mr.  McCormick's  contribution  gave  life  and 
spirit  to  the  enterprise. 

This  consecrated  ground  was  not  occupied  by  the 
Seminary  buildings  until  the  completion,  early  in 
1864,  of  Ewing  Hall,  which  then  stood  alone. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  adequately  express  to 
donors,  professors,  and  co-workers  with  them,  our 
gratitude  for  the  work  which  has  been  done  by  the 
Seminary  for  nearly  threescore  years  and  ten. 
How  great  was  its  object:  to  promote  the  spread  of 
the  gospel,  and  the  evangelization  of  the  world ;  to 
extend  the  influence  of  the  Scriptures — the  "  sun  of 
the  spiritual  firmament"!  Into  this  work  many 
have  entered  with  loving  zeal  and  enthusiasm,  but 
no  support  has  been  more  faithful  than  that  which 
was  given  by  Mr.  McCormick.      Without  amplify- 


1 6  Dedicatory  Exercises 

ing  references  to  his  generous  treatment  of  the  Semi- 
nary, it  is  enough  to  say  that  an  untiring  interest 
was  manifested  by  Mr.  McCormick  during  his  Hfe- 
time,  and  has  been  maintained  by  his  family. 

This  library  will  bear  well  the  name  which  has 
been  given  to  it.  Virginia,  the  native  state  of  Mr. 
McCormick,  the  state  which  ceded  to  the  United 
States  the  territory  of  which  our  own  state  of  Illinois 
is  a  part,  is  worthy  of  this  honor,  which  bespeaks 
the  tender  affection  of  the  donor  for  the  memory  of 
the  husband  who  was  one  of  the  real  founders  of  the 
Seminary  in  its  present  location. 

We  consider  one  a  benefactor  who  organizes  and 
carries  on  industrial  work  giving  useful  employ- 
ment to  many  persons.  A  great  author  is  brother 
to  such  a  benefactor.  Though  his  work  may  seem 
small  as  it  passes  through  the  press,  yet  if  it  quick- 
ens the  imagination  and  stirs  the  mind  and  heart  to 
noble  thought  and  effort,  how  great  it  may  become! 
Whether,  in  his  actual  greatness,  Shakespeare  put 
forth  his  writings  with  dispatch,  or  whether  he 
brooded  over  and  pruned  them  with  mighty  dili- 
gence, we  may  not  know.  But  countless  is  the 
number  of  those  who,  since  his  time,  have  been 
occupied  in  printing,  binding,  annotating,  and  dis- 
tributing far  and  wide  his  writings,  thus  perpetuating 
his  memory,  and  giving  him  a  mightier  influence 
than  he  could  wield  in  his  lifetime.  All  honor  and 
praise  to  those  whose  influence  is  thus  undying. 

When  we  look  at  the  Bible,  with  its  sixty-six 
small  books,  bound  together  as  if  all  the  writers 


Dedicatory   Exercises  17 

had  linked  hands  in  producing  from  one  mighty 
organ  strains  of  adoration  and  praise,  we  can  give 
honor  to  the  writers,  whether  we  know  their  names 
or  not.  Those  writers  were  various  in  their  training, 
their  discipHne,  their  employments  ;  some  were  law- 
givers, rulers,  kings,  prophets ;  others  were  fisher- 
men. They  numbered  about  forty,  writing  in  three 
languages,  and  during  a  period  of  fifteen  hundred 
years.  Can  we  fail  to  honor  these  men  when  we 
consider  how  great  has  been  the  influence  of  their 
writings ;  into  how  many  languages  and  tongues 
they  have  been  translated;  to  what  a  vast  number  of 
people  employment  has  been  given  in  the  copying, 
printing,  distributing,  reading,  and  in  the  exposition 
of  the  Scriptures  ? 

Good  influences  are  symbolized  and  foreshadowed 
by  this  structure.  It  is  to  enshrine,  for  preservation 
and  use,  a  great  many  useful  books  for  the  benefit 
of  students,  professors,  and  ministers  of  the  gospel. 
It  denotes  a  great  advance,  an  uplifting,  an  enno- 
bling influence  in  the  work  of  the  Seminary.  It 
tells  this  part  of  our  great  city,  and  those  who  study 
under  its  roof,  that  spiritual  influences  are  real ;  that 
they  should  be  esteemed,  and  should  turn  the  hearts 
of  parents  and  children  with  devotion  to  the  Divine 
Being  who  "openeth  His  hand  and  satisfieth  the 
desire  of  every  living  thing." 

Counting  the  gift  of  this  building  as  one  of  the 
many  acts  of  beneficence  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Net- 
tie Fowler  McCormick,  it  is  accepted  by  the  Board 
of  Directors  with  gratitude,  and  with  a  deep  sense 


Dedicatory  Exercises 


of  their  obligation  to  fulfill  the  sacred  trust  imposed 
upon  them  by  the  giver,  with  the  injunction  to 
"guard  well  the  walls  of  Zion." 

A  word  should  be  added.  The  good  deeds  to 
which  we  have  referred  should  be  an  encouragement 
to  others  to  do  likewise.  An  institution  such  as 
this  Seminary  has  become  always  has  needs.  Its 
growth  increases  them.  Tuition  is  freely  given, 
but  the  endowments  for  a  scholarship  fund  are  very 
deficient.  This  is  one  of  the  pressing  needs,  and  it 
is  hoped  that  individuals  and  churches  will  recognize 
a  responsibility  in  the  matter,  and  that  new  friends 
will  rise  up  to  help  those  who  have  borne  the  heat 
and  burden  of  the  day. 


Dedicatory   Exercises  19 

ADDRESS    BY 
REV.  HOWARD  DUFFIELD,  D.D. 

"LITERATURE  AS  A  SOURCE  OF  PULPIT  POWER  " 

MR.  President  and  Friends  of  McCor- 
MicK  Seminary,  —  While  journeying 
hitherward  in  response  to  your  cordial 
invitation  to  participate  in  the  congratulations  and 
share  in  the  inspirations  of  this  auspicious  hour,  the 
thought  thrust  itself  into  my  mind  that  this  new 
library  was  the  terminus  of  many  pathways,  a  center 
around  which  a  multitude  of  influences  had  clustered. 
An  illustrious  school  of  the  prophets  has  added  to 
its  apparatus  a  superb  intellectual  enginery.  Ancient 
art  has  exercised  its  ministry  of  beauty,  and  clothed 
the  structure  with  classic  grace.  Tender  affection 
has  left  its  sign-manual  in  the  name  which  shines 
above  the  portico.  A  hand  practiced  in  liberality 
has  given  a  characteristic  evidence  of  its  beneficent 
skill.  Emerson  says:  "Every  building  was  once 
an  idea  beneath  some  one's  hat,"  but  this  stately 
edifice  was  once  a  throbbing  emotion  within  a  noble 
heart. 

The  artistic  instinct  which  sought  a  model  for 
this  shrine  of  thought  upon  Mars  Hill  was  an  un- 
erring one.  "The  Greeks  seek  after  wisdom." 
With  what  an  Olympian  endeavor  they  pushed 
their  search  !  What  unsleeping  vigil  they  main- 
tained amid  the  shadow  of  life's  mystery !  Theirs 
was  the  eagerness  of  those  who  watch  for  the  morn- 


20  Dedicatory  Exercises 

ing.  Their  hungering  faces  were  ever  toward  the 
east.  When  the  herald  star  of  the  Master  of  men 
shone  in  the  firmament,  when  in  the  fullness  of  time 
"  God  made  himself  an  awful  rose  of  dawn  "  upon 
the  summits  of  the  Hebrew  hills,  their  brows  were 
brightened  with  the  radiance  of  the  coming  day. 
Plato,  like  Moses,  the  Church  Fathers  used  to  say, 
was  a  schoolmaster  to  lead  men  to  Christ.  Archi- 
tecture is  the  crystallization  of  profound  emotion. 
The  Greek  enthusiasm  for  truth  took  form  in  mar- 
bles of  deathless  splendor  and  temples  of  matchless 
proportion.  The  beauty  of  this  building,  which  we 
have  met  to  dedicate,  is  the  embodiment  of  a  pro- 
found idea.  This  library,  rising  beside  the  Seminary, 
is  an  eloquent  proclamation  of  the  fact  that  the 
thirst  for  wisdom,  which  was  so  unsleeping  in  the 
breast  of  the  Greek,  is  elemental  in  the  human 
nature,  and  can  be  slaked  alone  from  the  fountains 
of  God. 

Of  all  the  shrines  which  crowned  the  Acropolis 
there  was  none  more  ancient  and  none  more  vene- 
rated than  that  which  has  its  reproduction  upon 
your  campus.  The  Erechtheum  was  the  shrine  of 
Athene,  the  keeper  of  that  city  which  was  the  brain 
of  the  world,  the  metropolis  of  human  culture.  The 
deity  was  figured  as  keeping  watch  over  the  tomb 
of  him  who  had  founded  the  greatness  of  Attica,  her 
arm  girt  with  a  mighty  shield,  the  token  of  safety; 
her  hand  extending  a  branch  of  olive,  the  pledge  of 
peace.  Hellenistic  intuition  had  perceived  what 
modern  statecraft  has  been  slow  in  learning,  that 


Dedicatory   Exercises  21 

Athene  is  a  mightier  defender  of  the  commonwealth 
than  Ares;  that  Wisdom  is  better  than  War;  that 
invincible  battlements  for  a  city  must  be  founded 
upon  a  love  of  the  truth;  that  great  principles  are 
a  more  formidable  artillery  than  leveled  spears ;  that 
the  schoolroom  is  the  nation's  arsenal;  that  an  in- 
tellectual discipline  produces  a  more  unconquerable 
soldiery  than  martial  drill;  that  an  enlightened  citi- 
zenship furnishes  the  true  chariot  and  horse  power 
for  the  maintenance  of  a  nation's  honor. 

There  is  a  singular  identity  between  that  Old- 
World  temple  and  this  modern  counterpart.  Within 
one  wing  of  its  hallowed  inclosure  welled  forth  the 
crystal  waters  of  a  healing  stream,  unsealed  by  a 
potent  thrust  from  the  trident  of  Neptune.  At  the 
farther  extension  of  the  temple,  a  sacred  olive  tree, 
tilled  and  cherished  by  the  priestesses  of  Athene, 
reared  its  graceful  form  and  yielded  its  unstinted 
fruitage.  Wisdom  brooded  over  sea  and  soil.  All 
the  majesty  of  the  ocean,  all  the  fertility  of  the  earth, 
all  the  unfathomable  and  fascinating  mystery  of  life, 
lay  beneath  the  shadow  of  her  wings.  Mark  the 
locality  of  this  modern  Erechtheum.  It  is  planted  be- 
tween the  lake  and  the  prairie.  Upon  this  side  its  base 
is  washed  with  the  gleaming  waters  of  one  of  those 
Mediterraneans  which  nestle  in  the  bosom  of  this 
New  World.  On  yonder  side  lie  outspread  imperial 
tracts  of  teeming  land,  which,  as  one  of  your  own 
poets  has  said,  "  you  need  but  to  tickle  with  a  hoe, 
and  it  will  laugh  with  a  harvest."  With  a  unique 
precision  the  eloquent  significance  of  the  old  Grecian 


22  Dedicatory  Exercises 

shrine  has  been  imported  across  the  centuries,  and 
around  the  planet,  and  re-embodied  in  this  memo- 
rial pile;  but  this  modern  abiding-place  of  thought 
is  bathed  with  the  light  of  a  truth  such  as  never 
shone  on  ancient  sea  or  land. 

Into  the  templed  glory  of  the  hill  of  Mars  there 
came  one  day  a  Jewish  wanderer.  The  print  of  his 
sandals  may  have  been  left  upon  the  pavement  of 
the  very  building  from  which  this  library  has  been 
modeled.  The  literati  of  the  city  gathered  to  hear 
his  novel  discourse  concerning  Jesus  and  the  resur- 
rection. To  their  critic  gaze  his  appearance  was 
barbaric.  Upon  their  cultured  ear  his  utterance 
grated  like  "  babble."  But  Paul  was  master  of  a 
secret  unknown  to  Plato.  Calvary  proved  more 
exalted  than  the  Acropolis.  The  light  paled  over 
Athens.  The  glory  brightened  upon  Golgotha. 
Before  the  uplifting  of  the  crossed  timbers  upon 
which  a  Hebrew  youth  had  met  his  death,  this 
splendid  forest  of  temples  was  shattered  into  frag- 
ments. Before  the  breath  of  the  truth  from  the 
lips  of  one  whom  a  Nazarene  girl  had  mothered, 
the  laureled  diadem  of  great  Pallas  Athene  with- 
ered, and  the  haunts  of  her  worship  passed  into  the 
realm  of  dreams.  The  words  of  the  "  babbler  " 
still  reverberate.  His  accents  re-echo  throughout 
the  modern  world.  Thoughtful  minds  bend  their 
energy  to  master  the  principles  which  he  preached. 
Reverent  hearts  yield  their  homage  at  the  altar- 
place  of  the  cross  which  he  uplifted.  Nor  can  one 
altogether  escape  a  thrill  at  the  thought  that  the 


Dedicatory  Exercises  23 

ceremonial  of  this  hour  marks  the  dedication  of  this 
reconstructed  temple  as  an  instrumentality  for  the 
publication  of  the  very  truth  which,  when  long  ago 
proclaimed  beneath  its  walls,  seemed  the  essence  of 
foolishness.  This  shrine  of  ancient  wisdom  emerges 
resplendent  from  the  shadows  of  the  past,  and 
uplifts  its  pillared  front  to  the  light  of  this  new  day. 
Again  have  its  storied  walls  become  a  place  where 
the  truth  abides.  Again  the  preacher  stands  with 
stirring  heart  and  kindling  thought  before  its  august 
threshold.  "  But  the  old  order  changeth  and  giveth 
place  to  new."  What  men  deemed  fable  has  been 
found  gospel.  All  the  mystery  and  the  energy  of 
thought  is  being  gathered  here,  that  it  may  aid  in 
equipping  those  who  strive  to  swing  the  earth  out 
of  the  darkness  and  into  the  light,  by  flooding  it 
with  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

Such  a  combination  of  circumstances  defines  for 
us  this  theme:  Literature  as  a  source  of  pulpit 
power. 

It  is  the  glory  of  our  faith  that  it  can  be  preached. 
Our  religion  is  a  message.  Christianity  is  a  voice, 
the  only  voice  that  has  sounded  through  the  mys- 
terious silence  which  enshrouds  earthly  existence 
like  a  pall.  It  is  a  voice  which  wakens  an  echo 
within  every  breast.  It  speaks  in  an  accent  alien  to 
no  meridian.  It  conveys  ideas  that  are  exotic  upon 
no  shore.  Its  rhythms  are  native  to  humanity. 
When  honesty  bends  its  ear  to  listen,  men  discover 
that  its  utterance  is  couched  in  the  tongue  in  which 
they  were  born. 


24  Dedicatory  Exercises 

The  Seminary  is  a  school  of  heraldry,  a  training- 
place  for  the  couriers  of  the  King.  Its  entire 
machinery  is  centered  upon  the  solitary  result  of 
schooling  manhood  in  the  art  of  bringing  the  mes- 
sage of  God  to  bear  upon  the  need  of  the  world. 
The  value  of  a  literary  element  in  this  discipline  is 
not  unchallenged.  An  opinion  is  abroad  that  the 
bookman  is  the  unnecessary  man  ;  that  intellectual- 
ity cuts  the  nerve  of  practicality  ;  that  the  scholar  is 
a  recluse,  irresolute  and  ineffective,  unread  in  the 
necessities  of  real  life  and  unversed  in  the  meanings 
of  every-day  experience,  his  ideas  "sicklied  o'er  with 
the  pale  cast  of  thought,"  and  his  brawn  too  much 
run  to  brain ;  that  he  is  Erasmus  in  the  cloister, 
when  the  call  of  the  world  is  for  Luther  in  the 
arena.  This  is  no  new  misconception  of  the  scholar. 
Socrates  was  easily  leader  of  the  Academy,  but  Xan- 
thippe scouted  his  helplessness  as  a  home-maker.  In 
an  old  play  the  pedant  was  pilloried  as  expert  in 
raveling  a  syllogism,  but  unapt  in  the  logic  of 
knotting  his  sandal-strings.  The  prevalence  of  this 
irony  hints  at  a  basis  of  truth.  This  persistent 
undervaluation  of  scholarship  is  in  reality  a  danger- 
signal.  It  levels  an  index  finger  at  a  peril  which 
dogs  every  literary  worker.  The  menace  of  the 
scholar  is  mistaking  bookishness  for  culture.  On 
this  reef  many  a  student  has  made  wreck.  A 
book  is  an  energy,  a  conductor  of  mental  electricity. 
Its  mission  is  to  increase  the  power  of  right  living. 
Its  secret  lies  neither  in  the  gleam  of  its  words,  nor 
the  ring  of  its  sentences,  but   in   the   energy  of  its 


Dedicatory  Exercises  25 

ideas.  Its  true  message  lies  between  its  lines  and 
behind  its  pages.  It  is  not  to  be  mastered  by  the 
recitation  of  its  sentences,  but  by  the  assimilation  of 
its  thought.  "A  man,  not  a  book,  is  the  purpose  of 
the  world,"  declared  Phillips  Brooks.  So  saying, 
he  echoed  Humboldt's  assertion,  "Government,  re- 
ligion, property,  books,  are  nothing  but  scaffolding 
to  build  a  man."  True  culture  is  the  coronation  of 
character.  The  right  handling  of  books  is  a  mental 
gymnastic  for  the  developing  of  an  athletic  brain, 
tireless  in  planning  and  masterful  in  achieving  the 
good  of  men.  In  the  words  of  Bacon,  "  Our  studies 
are  not  a  couch  upon  which  we  are  to  rest;  they  are 
not  a  cloister  in  which  we  are  to  promenade  alone ; 
they  are  not  a  tower  from  which  we  are  to  look 
down  on  others,  nor  a  fortress  from  which  we  may 
resist  them,  nor  a  workshop  for  gain  and  merchan- 
dise ;  but  as  a  rich  armory  and  treasure-house,  for 
the  glory  of  the  Creator  and  the  ennoblement  of 
life." 

There  can  be  no  misconception  as  to  the  purpose 
of  this  superb  structure  whose  formal  opening  we 
have  met  to  celebrate.  It  has  not  been  reared 
merely  for  purposes  of  architectural  adornment.  It 
is  more  than  a  marble  memorial  of  affection.  It  is 
a  seminary  library,  a  center  of  seminal  influence. 
Etymologically  speaking,  every  library  is  a  seminary, 
not  so  much  a  repository  of  books  as  a  seedhouse. 
There  is  no  nest  of  power  like  a  warehouse  of  seeds. 
Its  walls  are  not  shaken  with  the  pulse  of  giant 
machinery.     No  spindles  rattle.     No  shuttles  flash. 


26  Dedicatory  Exercises 

No  looms  swing.  No  bewildering  network  of  bands 
whirls  amid  a  dizzy  perplexity  of  wheels.  Room 
after  room  is  stored  with  seed-force,  with  boxes  of 
kernels,  packets  of  grain,  bins  of  corn,  each  husk 
the  cradle  of  a  living  germ.  Within  these  tiny  cap- 
sules of  energy  sleep  potencies  that  shall  transform 
the  world.  They  shall  apparel  the  dull  earth  with 
beauty.  They  shall  enamel  its  pasture-lands  with 
emerald  and  gold  and  ivory.  They  shall  mantle  its 
hillsides  with  royal  robes,  broidered  with  a  wealth 
and  splendor  unknown  to  mechanic  skill.  They 
shall  garland  its  forests  with  crowns  more  glorious 
than  a  monarch's  diadem.  They  shall  spread  a 
veritable  banquet-board  of  God,  at  which  all  the 
nations  may  appease  their  hunger.  They  shall  rival 
the  philosopher's  stone  and  transmute  the  crude 
elements  of  carbon  and  oxygen  and  nitrogen  into  a 
life-force  which  shall  make  cunning  the  hand  of  the 
worker,  and  skillful  the  brain  of  the  thinker,  and 
fervent  the  heart  of  the  friend.  Such  a  mental 
granary  is  this  library.  It  is  a  storehouse  of  germ- 
power.  More  than  an  ornament,  more  than  a 
monument,  it  is  a  living  spring  of  vital  energy. 

I.  Literature  is  a  source  of  pulpit  power  because 
it  forges  a  weapon  for  the  use  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
A  literary  habit  places  upon  the  altar  a  disciplined 
brain  by  the  side  of  a  glowing  heart.  A  mastery  of 
letters  will  gear  the  love  of  the  ransomed  soul  with 
the  thought-force  of  a  well-tutored  intellect.  The 
tongue  of  the  preacher  must  be  trained  by  the  Spirit 
of  God.     His  message  was  not  born  of  earth,  and 


Dedicatory   Exercises  27 

cannot  be  imparted  without  divine  illumination. 
The  essential  source  of  all  pulpit  power  is  Pente- 
costal fire.  This  celestial  agency  is  independent  of 
earthly  appliances.  Endued  with  its  energy,  fisher- 
men became  apostles,  and  rustics  turned  the  world 
upside  down.  It  is  written  that  "  not  many  wise 
men  after  the  flesh  are  called."  But  the  writer  of 
that  sentence  was  himself  a  schoolman,  and  so  in 
love  with  books  that  when  he  sent  for  a  cloak  to 
protect  himself  against  dungeon-damp  he  sent  for 
his  parchments  as  well,  that  his  soul  might  be  com- 
panioned in  its  prison  loneliness  with  the  sovereign 
spirits  of  the  mighty  dead.  When  the  time  came 
for  the  church  to  advance  to  the  conquest  of  the 
world,  the  Holy  Spirit  enrolled  a  scholar  among  the 
apostles,  and  commissioned  as  leader  of  the  army  of 
invasion  a  man  who  had  been  nurtured  in  the 
atmosphere  of  the  library.  The  distinctive  signifi- 
cance of  Paul's  conversion  resides  in  the  fact  that  he 
had  sat  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel  before  he  knelt  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross.  When  the  hour  came  for 
channeling  the  course  through  which  theologic 
thought  should  pour  its  Niagara  torrent  down  the 
centuries,  the  Spirit  elected  to  inhabit  the  mind  of 
an  Augustine,  saturated  with  the  subtleties  of  the 
Platonic  philosophy.  When  occasion  demanded 
the  sounding  of  a  clarion  which,  like  the  silvery 
blast  of  the  Levitical  trumpets,  should  signal  the 
march  of  the  militant  church,  the  Spirit  subsidized 
the  mentality  of  Calvin  and  the  intellectuality  of 
Knox,  sons  of  great  mediaeval  universities.     Hodge 


28  Dedicatory  Exercises 

was  enabled  to  unite  profundity  of  thought  with 
simplicity  of  statement  because  his  great  heart  was 
wedded  to  a  strong  brain.  Shedd  rendered  the 
most  intricate  theological  problems  translucent  by 
spreading  them  upon  pages  drenched  with  literary 
allusions.  Thomas  Chalmers  and  our  own  William 
M.  Taylor  possessed  a  leonine  power  for  pulpit- 
work  because  their  capacious  minds  lay  wide  open 
to  the  light  and  drank  in  the  genial,  fructifying  in- 
fluences which  stream  from  logic  and  philosophy, 
from  song  and  from  story,  as  the  fallow  earth  drinks 
in  the  sunbeam  and  the  dew. 

When  Chatham  stood  at  the  head  of  the  English 
peerage,  and  his  hand  was  resting  upon  the  helm  of 
Britain's  destinies,  he  brought  to  his  task  an  acute 
and  furnished  mind,  a  wide  acquaintance  with  his 
country's  story,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  economics, 
a  practical  familiarity  with  diplomacy,  a  philosophic 
insight  into  the  reason  of  things,  and  a  poetic  tem- 
perament sensitive  to  the  highest  ideals.  When 
that  marvelous  intellectual  mechanism  was  set  in 
motion,  it  seemed,  men  said,  as  though  the  genius 
of  his  native  land  descended  upon  him  and  dwelt 
within  him.  His  form  dilated.  His  face  shone. 
His  periods  resounded  with  the  victorious  thunder 
of  Britain's  cannon,  and  reverberated  with  the  tri- 
umphal tread  of  British  progress.  So  let  the  am- 
bassador of  Christ  equip  himself  with  a  broad  literary 
culture.  Let  him  seek  to  become  expert  in  all  the 
methods  by  which  the  mind  of  man  has  moved 
toward  the  truth.     Let  him  be  indifferent  to  not 


Dedicatory   Exercises  29 

one  of  all  the  processes  by  which  the  reason  has 
aspired  to  unravel  the  mysteries  of  existence.  Let 
him  bring  his  nature  into  touch  with  the  melody  of 
poetry,  the  acuteness  of  philosophy,  the  breadth  of 
history,  and  the  intrepidity  of  science.  Let  him 
inscribe  upon  the  tablets  of  his  heart  the  splendid 
chronicle  of  his  church's  past.  Let  him  open  wide 
his  soul  to  the  sound  of  those  sublime  and  mysteri- 
ous voices  which  spake  as  the  Spirit  gave  them 
utterance.  Then,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  de- 
scend upon  him  as  he  heralds  the  exalted  and  thrill- 
ing mysteries  of  the  earth's  redemption,  the  glorious 
principles  of  revelation  shall  gleam  as  with  the  flash 
of  jewels,  and  his  speech  shall  tingle  with  apostolic 
fervors  and  heroic  energies,  his  utterance  throb 
with  the  sturdy  strength  which  pulsed  within  the 
breast  of  the  champions  of  the  faith,  his  sentences 
become  intense  with  the  glow  of  the  martyr-fires, 
and  the  pulpit-place  where  he  ministers  be  overhung 
with  the  awe  which  brooded  upon  the  garden  of  the 
agony  and  the  hill  of  the  crucifixion,  and  become 
atmosphered  with  the  sublimity  which  pervaded  the 
garden  of  the  conquered  tomb  and  glorified  the 
mountain  of  the  ascension. 

2.  Literature  is  a  source  of  pulpit  power  because 
it  voices  the  need  of  the  world. 

The  need  of  humanity  is  depicted  with  an  unspar- 
ing pencil  upon  many  a  page  of  Holy  Scripture. 
Literature  yields  the  sad  and  pathetic  echo  to  this 
inspired  diagnosis.  There  is  an  interesting  legend 
concerning  the  youth  of  Buddha.    The  attempt  was 


JO  Dedicatory  Exercises 

made  to  sequester  him  from  all  knowledge  of  the 
world-woe.  He  was  placed  by  his  royal  father  in  a 
sumptuous  palace.  Every  sort  of  earthly  satisfac- 
tion was  accumulated.  Every  ministry  of  pleasure 
was  set  in  motion.  Evil  was  exiled.  Sorrow  was 
concealed.  Pain  was  suppressed.  Death  was  un- 
mentioned.  But  in  the  weird  hours  of  the  wakeful 
nightj  spirit-whispers  crept  through  the  open  case- 
ment, and  breathed  upon  the  strings  of  his  wind- 
harp,  telling  of  the  sore  burden  of  human  life,  and 
of  the  pain-ridden  world  groaning  for  its  redemp- 
tion. From  literature  there  comes  just  such  a  wail- 
ing cry,  a  cry  as  wearied  and  unsleeping  as  the 
moaning  of  the  sea.  For  literature  is  simply  a  vain 
attempt  to  interpret  the  mystery  of  life.  In  all 
ages  men  have  wistfully  watched  the  stars  in  their 
stately  march  across  the  sky.  They  have  noted  the 
solemn  pomp  with  which  the  procession  of  the  sea- 
sons treads  the  earth.  With  subdued  heart  they 
have  become  conscious  that  they  are  themselves  a 
part  of  this  vast  mysterious  movement,  atoms  in 
this  cosmic  process.  They  have  felt  the  majestic 
and  resistless  swing  of  the  stream  of  time,  bearing 
them  onward,  steadily,  silently,  swiftly.  They  have 
beheld  the  generations  appear  and  disappear,  like 
the  clouds  that  float  through  the  air.  They  have 
beheld  the  countless  individuals  of  the  race  vanish, 
one  by  one,  as  the  leaves  of  the  forest  wither  and  fall. 
They  have  seen  joy  unfold  its  petals,  exhale  its 
fragrance,  and  pass  away  as  evanescent  as  a  flower  of 
the  spring.     They   have   seen   the   earth  furrowed 


Dedicatory   Exercises  31 

with  the  iron  plowshare  of  cruelty,  and  crimsoned 
with  the  blood-red  dews  of  hate.  They  have  shiv- 
ered at  the  strange  cry  of  pain  with  which  the  air 
is  ceaselessly  quivering,  and  they  have  been  chilled 
by  that  rain  of  tears  wherewith  the  earth  is  ever  wet. 
They  have  stood  with  anguished  hearts  before  the 
frowning  gateways  of  the  grave,  and  have  challenged 
its  grim  silence  with  despairing  cries.  Listen  to 
Carlyle :  "  So  it  has  been  from  the  beginning,  so  it 
will  be  to  the  end.  Generation  after  generation 
takes  to  itself  the  form  of  a  body,  and  forth  issuing 
from  Cimmerian  Night  on  heaven's  mission  appears. 
The  force  and  fire  which  is  in  each  he  expends  ;  one 
grinding  in  the  mill  of  industry ;  one,  hunter-like, 
climbing  the  giddy  Alpine  heights  of  science ;  one 
madly  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks  of  strife  in 
war  with  his  fellow, — and  the  heaven-sent  is  recalled, 
this  earthly  vesture  falls  away,  and  soon  even  to 
sense  he  becomes  a  vanished  shadow.  Thus,  like 
some  wild-flaming,  wild-thundering  train  of  heaven's 
artillery,  does  this  mysterious  mankind  thunder  and 
flame  in  long-drawn,  quick-succeeding  grandeur 
through  the  unknown  deep.  Thus,  like  a  God- 
created,  fire-breathing  host,  we  emerge  from  the 
inane,  haste  stormfully  across  the  astonished  earth, 
then  plunge  again  into  the  inane.  But  whence  ? 
O  Heaven,  whither  ?  " 

Men  gaze.  They  listen.  They  ponder.  They 
make  record;  and  that  record  is  literature.  Each 
volume  is  another  clew  to  the  labyrinth  of  life,  a 
fresh  answer  to  the  enigma  of  the  Sphinx,  a  reread- 


32  Dedicatory  Exercises 

ing  of  the  riddle  of  the  painful  earth.  Every  book 
is  the  attempt  to  put  into  language  what  its  writer 
has  detected  of  the  meaning  of  life.  This  is  what 
Milton  meant  when  he  said :  "  Every  good  book 
contains  the  life-blood  of  some  master  spirit."  Its 
sentences  are  the  distilled  essence  of  its  author's 
experience  of  existence.  "  The  best  of  my  poems," 
writes  Whittier,  "  have  been  crushed  out  of  me  by 
the  weight  of  the  cross  which  I  have  carried." 
Literature  is  the  sum  total  of  the  thought  which  has 
"  been  crushed  out  "  of  the  human  mind  by  the 
burden  of  the  solemn  facts  which  condition  its  being. 
He  held  a  well-pointed  pen  who  wrote,  "  The  dome 
which  overarches  every  collection  of  great  books  is 
nothing  less  than  the  infinite  sky  which  stretches 
over  the  life  of  man."  Homer,  who  touched  his 
harp  in  the  early  morning  hour  of  song,  pictures  not 
merely  a  strife  of  princes  beneath  the  walls  of  Troy, 
but  rehearsed  the  Iliad  of  humanity,  that  battle 
royal  waged  by  every  soul  of  man  ;  he  celebrated 
not  alone  the  experience  of  a  homeless  king  strug- 
gling over  troubled  waters  and  along  danger-haunted 
shores  toward  the  far-off  haven  of  his  heart,  but  he 
recited  a  spiritual  Odyssey,  the  vicissitude  of  the 
soul  in  quest  of  its  native  land.  The  verse  of  Vir- 
gil did  more  than  portray  the  fortunes  of  an  exiled 
prince  who  found  a  throne  in  a  land  beyond  the 
sea :  it  chronicles  the  ardent  and  triumphant  pil- 
grimage of  the  soul  to  the  city  of  its  true  royalty. 
The  Divina  Commedia  of  the  poet-preacher  of  the 
Middle  Ages  was  not  so  much  a  panorama  of  the 


Dedicatory  Exercises  ^j 

world  to  come,  as  a  secret  history  of  the  human 
soul,  an  unveiling  of  the  processes  and  possibilities 
of  the  life  that  now  is,  a  tremendous  projection  into 
visibility  of  those  hidden  forces  which  play  through 
mortality  and  dominate  destiny,  Shakespeare  sits 
like  a  master  of  the  revels,  watching  the  play  which 
humanity  is  enacting  ;  and  to  him  this  great  drama 
of  the  earth  and  man  is  but  a  Comedy  of  Errors, 
a  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  Much  Ado  about 
Nothing,  a  Tempest,  "  full  of  sound  and  fury  sig- 
nifying nothing,"  a  Winter's  Tale ;  its  fools  dressed 
in  wisdom  and  its  sages  in  motley;  purity  and  equity 
ever  at  cross-purposes  ;  youth  intoxicated  with  illu- 
sion, and  old  age  drunk  with  wormwood  or  shadowed 
with  the  brain-clouds  of  insanity ;  earthly  existence, 
a  struggle  without  a  purpose,  a  problem  without  a 
solution,  a  midnight  without  a  star. 

Literature  sounds  a  pathetic  note  of  unsatisfied 
longing,  from  the  wistful  yearnings  of  Plato  to  the 
passionate  and  turbulent  outcries  of  Byron  and 
Shelley.  Goethe,  hailed  by  many  as  prince  of 
modern  letters,  serene  in  temperament,  symmetrical 
in  culture,  deep-thoughted,  far-sighted,  garnering 
whatever  satisfactions  could  be  produced  in  the 
fields  of  intellectual  delight,  confesses,  "  I  have  ever 
been  esteemed  a  favorite  of  fortune,  nor  will  I  com- 
plain of  the  course  my  life  has  taken.  Yet,  truly,  there 
has  been  nothing  but  toil  and  care,  and  in  all  my 
seventy-five  years  I  have  never  had  a  month  of 
genuine  comfort."  Literature  is  haunted  with  a  sense 
of  thwarted  destiny,  from  its  exhibition  of  the  tragic 


34  Dedicatory  Exercises 

figure  of  Prometheus  bound  on  the  cliffs  of  Cauca- 
sus, to  Its  presentation  of  Hamlet  pacing  the  ghostly 
battlements  of  Elsinore.  Literature  is  saturated 
with  the  corroding  suspicion  that  life  is  not  worth 
the  living,  whether  it  be  voiced  in  the  pessimistic 
philosophy  of  Schopenhauer,  or  embalmed  in  the 
somber  rhythms  of  the  Rubaiyat,  or  chanted  in  such 
poetry  of  despair  as  the  "  City  of  Dreadful  Night." 
Max  Nordau  would  doubtless  scoff  at  any  affiliation 
with  the  Genevan  school  of  theology,  but  in  his 
work  on  "  Degeneration,"  yet  fresh  from  the  printer, 
he  out-Calvins  Calvin  in  descanting  upon  the  ten- 
dencies to  evil  inherent  in  humanity,  and  in  attempt- 
ing to  demonstrate  that  all  this  latter-day  splendor 
of  art  and  letters  is  but  the  fleeting  sunset  pomp 
which  ushers  in  a  "  dusk  of  the  gods."  Literature 
is  burdened  with  the  confession  of  its  impotence  to 
allay  the  cravings  of  the  heart. 

A  lichen  bafiles  the  laureate.  The  light  of  his 
master  mind  sheds  no  ray  upon  the  secret  of  a  root- 
let. Tennyson,  with  all  his  penetrating  intuition, 
confesses  that  he  is  no  Solomon,  and  cannot  strip  of 
its  mystery  "  the  hyssop  which  springeth  out  of  the 
wall." 

"  Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 
I  pluck  thee  out  of  the  crannies; 
Hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand. 
Little  flower, — but  if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 
I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is." 

The  truth  hidden  from  song  is  equally  beyond 
the  reach  of  science.     The  laboratory  cannot  unveil 


Dedicatory   Exercises  35 

it.  The  scalpel  cannot  dissect  it.  The  lens  cannot 
perceive  it.  Philosophy  bows  her  head  and  is 
dumb  when  she  hears  the  heart  crying  out  for 
peace. 

"  Has  science  actually  brought  us  one  step  nearer 
the  final  mystery  of  things  ?  "  asks  he  who  wrote 
the  "Religion  of  a  Literary  Man."  "It  has  cata- 
logued the  minutiae  of  phenomena.  It  has  numbered 
the  stars  and  counted  the  grains  of  sand,  but  has  it 
told  us  a  single  truth  about  the  essence  of  things  ? 
It  has  but  quickened  and  deepened  the  sense  of 
mystery." 

A  climber  in  the  Alps  was  found  lifeless  upon  a 
lofty  summit.  His  icy  hand  clenched  a  scrap  of 
paper  inscribed  with  the  totality  of  his  discovery : 
"  It  is  very  cold,  and  the  clouds  shut  out  the  view." 
In  that  single  sentence  he  condensed  the  witness  of 
letters  to  the  helplessness  of  man.  The  climbers  of 
thought-summits  fondly  dream  that,  as  from  some 
Pisgah,  they  shall  regale  their  gaze  with  the  exuberant 
delights  of  a  land  of  promise.  They  find  it  very 
cold.  The  clouds  shut  out  their  view.  Their  dis- 
appointment utters  itself  in  some  such  dirge-like 
song  as  this,  which  William  Watson  sung : 

**  For  still  the  ancient  riddles  mar 
Our  joy  in  man,  in  leaf,  in  star; 
The  Whence  and  Whither  give  no  rest; 
The  Wherefore  is  a  hopeless  quest; 
And  the  dull  wight  who  never  thinks. 
Who,  chancing  on  the  sleeping  Sphinx, 
Passes  unchallenged,  fares  the  best." 


36  Dedicatory  Exercises 

It  would  seem  as  though  the  murmur  of  such  a 
sorrow  would  put  wings  to  the  feet  of  the  messen- 
gers of  God.  It  would  seem  as  though  it  must  spur 
to  the  utmost  the  sanctified  desire  to  herald  the 
unsearchable  satisfactions  of  the  divine  grace  to  a 
creation  which  has  so  eloquently  and  so  appealingly 
confessed  itself  to  be  travailing  in  pain,  and  to  be 
wistfully  waiting  for  the  glad  coming  of  some  sure 
embassy  of  peace. 

3.  Literature  is  a  source  of  pulpit  power  because 
it  feeds  the  source  of  intellectual  courage. 

The  pulpit  is  sometimes  called  a  throne.  It  might 
more  aptly  be  likened  to  an  arena.  Its  fit  occupancy 
requires  gladiatorial  qualities.  The  call  to  preach 
is  a  call  for  the  exercise  of  mental  intrepidity,  a 
demand  for  disciplined  bravery.  To  seek  to  win 
the  allegiance  of  mankind  to  truths  that  sweep  be- 
yond the  domain  of  the  reason ;  to  seek  to  install  as 
the  motive  power  of  life,  love  for  One  into  whose 
face  no  man  has  ever  looked,  whose  hand  man  can- 
not clasp,  the  sound  of  whose  voice  has  never 
greeted  his  ear;  to  exalt  future  possibilities  above 
present  actualities;  to  plead  the  claims  of  the  super- 
natural to  minds  enthralled  by  the  principles  of  the 
market-place;  to  invest  with  a  sceptered  authority 
ideas  against  which  the  earth-born  nature  is  set  like 
a  flint;  to  attempt  to  win  the  way  for  truth  that  is 
unpalatable,  that  runs  across  the  grain,  that  hurls 
pride  from  its  pedestal,  that  brands  self-complacency 
as  folly,  that  proclaims  man  to  be  a  sinner,  a  sinner 
lost  and  helpless,  a  sinner  to   be  saved  only  by 


Dedicatory  Exercises  37 

mercy,  and  that  mercy  free  and  unmerited,  —  taxes 
the  resources  of  intellectual  courage.  He  who  rises 
to  the  heights  of  such  an  enterprise,  he  who  con- 
ducts worthily  such  an  adventure,  may  well  close  it 
with  the  cry  of  the  thinker  who  said:  "  Lay  a  sword 
upon  my  coffin,  for  I  have  been  a  warrior  in  the 
great  fight  for  the  emancipation  of  the  earth." 

There  come  times  when  weariness  broods  heavily 
over  the  heart  of  the  fighter,  and  when  the  warrior 
can  scarce  endure  the  stress  of  the  battle.  Ofttimes 
the  soul  is  heavy  with  the  consciousness  that  the 
Temple  of  the  Truth  cannot  be  builded  like  fabled 
Thebes  to  the  dulcet  notes  of  flutes  and  the  soft 
tinkle  of  harp-strings,  but  arises  amid  the  clamors 
and  the  tumult  of  war.  Ofttimes  the  heart  grows 
sick  with  the  realization  that  the  City  of  God  can- 
not be  constructed  in  hallowed  silence  as  the  sanctu- 
ary rose  upon  the  hill  of  Zion,  but  must  be  reared 
amid  the  clash  of  steel  on  steel,  and  the  fierce  col- 
lisions of  armed  men.  Ofttimes  the  strength  is  worn 
and  the  spirit  spent  with  the  fierceness  of  the  inev- 
itable antagonisms,  and  the  ear  vexed  with  the  crash 
of  the  incessant  battle-cry,  and  the  defenders  of  the 
faith  feel  like  participants  in  that  "  dim,  weird  bat- 
tle of  the  West,"  when  — 

"A  deathwhite  mist  slept  on  sand  and  sea, 
*     *     *     and  even  on  Arthur  fell 
Confusion,  since  he  saw  not  whom  he  fought; 
For  friend  and  foe  were  shadows  in  the  mist. 
And  friend  slew  friend,  not  knowing  whom  he  slew." 

In  the  old  Homeric  song  it  is  recorded  that  when 


38  Dedicatory  Exercises 

the  heart  of  a  great  champion  grew  faint,  he  prayed 
to  Athene  for  help,  "  and  the  blue-eyed  goddess 
was  glad  that  he  prayed  first  to  her,  and  strength- 
ened him  with  strength  in  his  shoulders  and  limbs, 
and  she  gave  him  courage."  So  let  the  warrior  of 
the  cross,  in  his  hour  of  weakness,  reread  the  story 
of  the  progress  of  truth  as  it  is  imprinted  in  the 
world's  literature.  Clouds  will  lift.  The  horizon 
will  clear.  The  pulse  will  move  with  stronger  beat. 
The  loins  will  be  belted  with  fresher  strength.  He 
will  relearn  the  fact,  "  we  fall,  to  rise ;  are  baffled,  to 
fight  better."  He  will  be  reminded  that  the  Napo- 
leonic leader  of  the  early  church  announced  from 
the  outset  that  the  advance  of  the  cross  was  to  be 
over  a  well-fought  field  and  in  the  face  of  fierce 
foemen;  that  the  conditions  of  its  truest  success 
should  be  not  only  an  "  open  door "  inviting  en- 
trance, but  also  "  many  adversaries  "  whose  over- 
throw should  serve  to  demonstrate  the  resistlessness 
of  its  power.  He  will  realize  that  the  church's  seed 
has  been  its  martyr-blood;  that  the  worth  of  its 
trophies  has  been  measured  by  the  stress  of  its 
struggles;  that  its  hymns  of  triumph  have  floated 
over  battle-plains;  that  its  psalms  of  victory  have 
been  "  songs  of  the  sword  ";  that  its  crown  jewels 
have  been  formed  under  the  chemic  pressure  of 
strife.  The  Sabellian  heresy  cleared  the  mists  from 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  The  Pelagian  debate 
clarified  conception  with  reference  to  the  nature  of 
man.  The  choice  fruit  of  the  Arian  controversy 
was  the  Nicene  Creed.     From  the  political  upheav- 


Dedicatory  Exercises  39 

als  and  the  ecclesiastical  catastrophes  of  the  Middle 
Ages  emerged  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
The  struggle  of  Puritan  and  Churchman  concerning 
the  divine  right  of  kings  resulted  in  formulating 
the  truth  concerning  the  supreme  sovereignty  of  the 
Deity.  The  Armenian  reaction  preserved  sover- 
eignty from  passing  into  tyranny.  A  Roman  spear- 
thrust  on  Calvary  demonstrated  the  truth  of  the 
Redeemer's  broken  heart.  In  these  later  days  the 
spear-thrusts  of  Christ's  enemies  most  conspicuously 
attest  the  invincibility  of  His  divinity. 

Amid  the  excitement  and  turmoil  that  to-day 
environ  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  let  us  lend  an  ear  to 
the  voice  of  history.  In  this  hour,  when  the  Holy 
Bible  is  a  target  for  assault;  when  from  without  the 
church  an  antagonism  aiming  to  destroy  it,  and 
from  within  the  church  a  criticism  claiming  to  de- 
fend it,  are  seemingly  achieving  the  common  result 
of  impugning  its  veracity,  impairing  its  integrity, 
and  undermining  its  authority,  —  faith  may  well  be 
fortified  by  the  teaching  of  all  the  ages,  that  the 
shining  of  the  truth  is  the  clearer  for  the  storm. 
Recall  the  striking  sentences  of  Beaconsfield,  who, 
commenting  upon  a  similar  crisis,  pointed  out  the 
sure  sequel  to  all  such  spiritual  effervescence: 
"  When  the  turbulence  was  over,  when  the  waters 
had  subsided,  the  sacred  heights  of  Sinai  and  Cal- 
vary were  again  revealed,  and  mankind,  tried  by  so 
many  sorrows,  purified  by  so  much  suffering,  and 
wise  with  such  unprecedented  experience,  bowed 
again   before  the  divine  truths   that   Omnipotence 


40  Dedicatory   Exercises 

had  intrusted  to  the  custody  and  promulgation  of  a 
Chosen  People." 

Well-read  in  the  lessons  of  literature,  armored 
with  a  clear  view  of  the  earth's  experience,  a  pupil 
of  the  centuries,  the  preacher  will  keep  his  poise 
amid  the  swing  of  passing  influences;  he  will 
address  himself  to  his  work  with  the  mien  of  victory; 
he  will  utter  his  word  in  tones  that  shall  vibrate 
after  the  manner  of  the  player  in  the  Niebelungen 
Lied,  whose  crisp  and  silvery  notes  were  cut  from 
his  violin  bv  a  bow  backed  with  a  sword-blade. 
The  confiisions  of  the  field  of  strife  will  no  longer 
shake  him  with  a  single  tremor  as  to  ultimate  issues. 
He  will  share  the  unruffled  confidence  of  Milton,  and 
sav  :  "  Let  truth  and  falsehood  grapple.  If  all  the 
winds  of  doctrine  were  let  loose  upon  the  earth,  we 
do  wrong  to  doubt  the  outcome,  so  truth  be  in  the 
field.  Who  ever  heard  of  truth  being  worsted  in  a 
fair  battle? " 

4.  Literature  is  a  source  of  pulpit  power  because  it 
emphasizes  the  excellence  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

A  diamond  will  attract  a  child  by  its  strange  fire, 
but  onlv  a  lapidary  can  calculate  the  value  of  the 
s;em.  A  star  will  arrest  the  gaze  of  a  peasant,  but 
to  an  astronomer  alone  will  it  measure  stellar  spaces 
and  tell  of  the  march  of  worlds.  A  flower,  by  its 
fragrance,  will  charm  every  passer-by,  but  its  mes- 
sage is  heard  alone  by  the  heart  of  the  poet  to 
whom  "  the  meanest  flower  that  blows  will  waken 
thoughts  that  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears."  The 
Bible  is  a  child's  book,  and   he  within  whose  soul 


Dedicatory  Exercises  41 

the  light  of  thought  is  only  glimmering  can  dis- 
cover therein  his  Saviour;  but  the  unique  excellence 
of  the  Scrij)ture  stands  out  alone  against  a  back- 
ground of  familiarity  with  the  "other  half"  of  the 
world's  literature.  The  Bible  is  the  most  thought- 
packed  book  in  existence.  It  has  been  fitly  entitled 
"A  segment  of  the  history  of  the  universe."  It  is 
a  compendium  of  the  principles  of  the  divine  gov- 
ernment. It  is  a  primer  on  the  methods  of  Deity, 
for  use  in  this  kindergarten  of  an  earth.  Whatever 
is  vital  in  history,  and  essential  in  philosophy,  and 
progressive  in  diplomacy,  and  ennobling  in  person- 
ality, strikes  root  in  its  pages.  Says  Froude,  who 
speaks  ex  cathedra  with  reference  to  the  teaching  of 
history:  "All  that  we  call  modern  civilization,  in 
any  sense  deserving  of  the  name,  is  but  the  visible 
expression  of  the  transforming  power  of  the  Gospel." 
The  Scripture  is  atmosphered  with  a  literary  gran- 
deur that  only  the  lettered  can  fully  appreciate. 
When  Walter  Scott  lay  dying  he  requested  that  a 
book  might  be  read  to  him.  "  What  book  ?  "  was 
asked.  "  What  book?  "  responded  he  whose  wizard 
pen  has  enriched  the  world  with  its  marvelous  per- 
formance— "  What  book  ?  There  is  but  one."  Old 
Samuel  Johnson  was  book-taster  for  England  in  his 
day,  and  his  epicurean  literary  palate  recognized  the 
peculiar  savor  of  the  idyl  of  Ruth  as  an  almost 
perfect  specimen  of  pastoral  writing.  George  Wil- 
liam Curtis  sat  for  many  years  in  the  editor's  chair 
of  the  Harper's  Magazine,  and  therefore  gives  an 
expert  opinion  when  he  declares  that,  from  a  purely 


42  Dedicatory  Exercises 

literary  standpoint,  the  story  of  Joseph  is  the  best 
short  story  in  existence.  Alfred  the  Great  vindi- 
cated his  kingly  capacity,  and  laid  broad  and  deep 
the  foundations  of  British  stability,  when  he  pref- 
aced the  Constitution  of  England  with  the  Deca- 
logue of  Moses.  The  Book  of  Job  casts  its  spell 
over  the  casual  reader,  but  its  strange  power  is  most 
magically  felt  by  a  mind  profoundly  immersed  in 
human  lore,  like  that  of  Carlyle,  who  irrepressibly 
bursts  forth:  "Apart  from  all  theories  concerning 
it,  I  call  the  Book  of  Job  one  of  the  grandest  things 
that  ever  came  from  the  human  pen."  The  mar- 
velous poetry  of  the  Hebrew  Psalter  makes  all 
hearts  to  sing,  but  he  is  touched  with  a  fresh  sense 
of  wonder  at  their  rare  quality,  who  can  compare  the 
lyrics  of  David  with  the  hymns  of  the  Vedas  and 
the  odes  of  Horace.  The  study  of  the  Proverbs  in 
the  common  school  puts  pith  and  sap  into  the  Scot- 
tish character,  but  the  closeness  of  their  grain  and 
the  fineness  of  their  fiber  becomes  fully  apparent 
only  when  the  sentences  of  Solomon  are  weighed  in 
the  balances  over  against  the  aphorisms  of  Aurelius. 
Ecclesiastes  sounds  the  note  of  ennui,  to  which  the 
elaborate  systems  of  present-day  pessimism  are  only 
the  long-drawn  echo,  albeit  the  echo  repeats  only 
the  sighing,  and  altogether  misses  the  solace. 
Macaulay  was  keenly  sensitive  to  the  elements  of  a 
lofty  style,  and  Webster  was  quick  to  recognize  the 
roll  of  real  eloquence.  These  giant  linguists  there- 
fore became  the  pupils  of  Isaiah,  that  they  might 
catch  something  of  his  peerless  gift  of  literary  ex- 


Dedicatory   Exercises  43 

pression.  The  profundity  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  is  apparent  on  the  surface,  but  its  vast 
depths  can  be  adequately  fathomed  only  by  some 
such  philosophic  spirit  as  that  of  Coleridge,  who 
rises  from  its  study  with  the  statement,  "  This  let- 
ter to  the  Romans  is  the  most  profound  of  all  the 
philosophies." 

Charles  Reade  was  such  a  master  in  the  art  of 
character-painting  that  he  was  outspoken  in  his 
amazement  at  the  power  with  which  the  penman  of 
Scripture  pictured  personality.  Canvass  the  litera- 
ture of  the  world  upon  the  subject  of  "  Incarna- 
tion." See  how,  in  every  land,  gifted  pens  and 
splendid  minds  have  been  taxed  in  the  effort  to 
worthily  express  the  conception  of  deity  in  human- 
ity. The  conspicuous  and  universal  failure  of  the 
masters  of  human  thought  measures  the  unparalleled 
achievement  which  has  been  wrought  by  those  un- 
tutored Galileans,  who,  claiming  that  they  had  be- 
held the  glory  of  the  "  Word  made  flesh,"  set  forth 
His  picture  in  their  fourfold  gospel. 

It  is  one  of  the  fads  of  skeptic  thought  to  invest 
with  a  fictitious  value  the  religious  writings  of  the 
Oriental  world.  This  logic  is  possible  for  those  to 
whom  the  alphabet  of  the  Oriental  languages  is  a 
hopeless  mystery;  this  argument  is  plausible  to 
those  who  have  never  looked  between  the  covers  of 
these  misnamed  bibles.  But  Max  Miiller,  after 
subjecting  all  the  holy  books  of  the  Eastern  nations 
to  a  microscopic  scrutiny,  says:  "Let  us  not  shut 
our  eyes  to  what  is  excellent  and  true  and  of  good 


44  Dedicatory  Exercises 

report  in  those  sacred  books,  but  let  us  teach  Hin- 
doo, Buddhist,  and  Mohammedan  that  there  is  but 
one  sacred  book  of  the  East  which  can  be  their 
mainstay  in  that  awful  hour  when  they  shall  pass 
alone  into  the  unseen  world.  It  is  the  Book  which 
contains  that  faithful  saying,  worthy  to  be  received 
of  all  men  and  women  and  children,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners."  The 
Koran  is  an  offshoot  of  Old  Testament  literature. 
It  reads  like  one  of  the  Apocrypha,  rather  than  the 
text-book  of  another  faith.  All  that  is  of  worth  in 
the  teachings  of  infidelity  has  been  pilfered  from  the 
Bible.  Ehminate  from  the  literature  of  unbelief  all 
for  which  it  stands  debtor  to  the  Scriptures,  and  no 
one  cares  what  claim  gods  or  men  may  lay  to  the 
residuum.  Encompassed  about  with  such  a  cloud 
of  witnesses,  what  wonder  that  Gladstone,  that  man 
of  encyclopaedic  culture,  at  home  alike  in  the  Cab- 
inet chamber  and  Parliament-house,  the  literary  den 
and  the  social  circle,  a  prince  both  in  the  realm  of 
thought  and  in  the  sphere  of  action,  should  be 
moved  to  say:  "We  claim  for  Holy  Scripture  not 
merely  precedence,  but  supremacy." 

The  Bible  rises  above  the  thought  of  the  race, 
like  the  mighty  mountain  ranges  that  rib  the  earth 
with  adamantine  strength.  It  sweeps  along  the 
coast  line  of  human  opinion  with  the  rush  of  its 
sublime  influences,  like  the  ocean,  which  bathes  the 
sphere  with  its  mysterious  tides.  The  music  of  the 
sea  shall  one  day  be  still,  and  the  voice  of  its  mighty 
waters  be  heard  no  more.      The  hour  is  hastening 


Dedicatory  Exercises  45 

on  when  the  granite  foundations  of  the  age-worn 
hills  shall  crumble,  and  not  one  stone  be  left  upon 
another.  "  But  the  word  of  our  God  shall  stand 
forever." 

5.  Literature  is  a  source  of  pulpit  power  because 
it  emphasizes  the  unique  supremacy  of  Christ. 

Sidney  Lanier,  whose  harp  of  song  was  all  too 
soon  unstrung,  composed  a  poem  of  rare  power 
which  he  named  "  The  Crystal."  He  sees  in 
vision — 

"Companies  of  Governor-spirits,  grave  bards. 
And  old-bringers  down  of  flaming  news 
From  steep-walled  heavens,  holy  malcontents. 
Sweet  seers,  and  stellar  visionaries,  and 
All  that  brood  about  the  skies  of  poesy." 

As  the  mystic  procession  moves  before  his  eyes, 
some  fault  appears  in  each.  Homer  nods.  Plato 
dreams.  Buddha  is  fantastic.  Aurelius  is  pedantic. 
Dante  limps.  Shakespeare  blots  his  page.  Milton 
sings  false.  Goethe  is  icy.  Emerson  is  supercilious. 
Whitman  is  lop-sided. 

♦'But  Thee,  but  Thee,  O  Sovereign  Seer  of  time. 
But  Thee,  O  poet.  Wisdom's  tongue. 
But  Thee,  O  man's  best  Man,  O  love's  best  Love, 
O  perfect  life  in  perfect  labor  writ, 
O  all  men's  Comrade,  Servant,  King,  or  Priest, — 
What  'if  or  *yet,'  what  mole,  what  flaw,  what  lapse. 
What  least  defect,  or  shadow  of  defect. 
What  rumor,  tattled  by  an  enemy. 
Of  inference  loose;  what  lack  of  grace. 
Even  in  torture's  grasp,  or  sleep's,  or  death's, — 
O  what  amiss  may  I  forgive  in  Thee, 
Jesus,  good  Paragon,  thou  Crystal  Christ?" 


46  Dedicatory  Exercises 

This  is  not  simply  good  poetry.  It  is  the  epitome 
of  the  world's  thought,  the  essence  of  human  Htera- 
ture,  the  goal  to  which  the  student  of  letters  is  rig- 
orously driven.  Of  old,  all  roads  led  to  Rome. 
Now,  every  pathway  leads  to  Calvary.  Interrogate 
the  centuries.  Cross-examine  the  thinkers  of  every 
age  and  clime.  The  more  extensive  the  search,  the 
more  inquiring  the  scrutiny,  the  more  lustrous  the 
pre-eminence  of  Christ.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  met 
the  world-want  as  a  trellis  meets  tendrils,  as  the 
open  door  and  the  enfolding  arms  meet  the  home- 
less wanderer.  Christ  alone  has  interpreted  God 
intelligibly.  The  sore  necessities  of  humanity  stirred 
to  its  depths  the  sympathy  of  the  Deity.  From  the 
throne  of  being,  Christ  comes  for  the  unveiling  of 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  giving  of  peace  to  men. 
He  mitigates  the  pang  of  evil  by  sharing  with  us 
its  malignity.  As  our  comrade,  he  journeys  along 
our  flinty  way  and  passes  through  the  shadowed 
valley  into  which  our  path  descends.  As  our  cham- 
pion he  flings  ofi^  the  fetters  of  the  grave  and  bursts 
asunder  the  gates  of  death.  Child  of  the  first  cen- 
tury, he  is  the  leader  of  all  time.  Cradled  in  a 
remote  corner  of  the  earth,  he  seems  native  to  every 
meridian.  Moses  was  distinctively  Hebrew,  and 
Plato  Hellenist;  Cicero  was  palpably  Roman,  and 
Goethe  Teuton;  Dante  was  a  flower  of  the  Italian 
soil,  and  Shakespeare  was  an  oflTshoot  of  English  oak. 
But  Jesus  is  not  Jewish.  He  is  the  Son  of  man. 
The  planet  is  his  pedestal.  History  is  his  chronicle. 
The  arms  of  his  cross  span  a  wider  empire  than  that 


Dedicatory   Exercises  47 

over  which  the  eagles  of  Caesar  flew.  His  homage 
resounds  from  every  compass-point.  Lecky,  the  pro- 
found and  careful  historian  of  European  morals,  has 
asserted  "  that  the  record  of  the  three  short  years 
of  Jesus'  life  has  done  more  to  preserve  humanity 
from  entire  corruption  than  all  the  disquisitions 
of  sages,  philosophers,  or  preachers."  Immanuel 
Kant,  the  critic  of  the  Pure  Reason,  reached 
the  climax  of  his  logic  in  the  conclusion  that  Jesus 
Christ  had  embodied  the  highest  ideal  of  humanity. 
Stuart  Mill,  the  philanthropist,  pondering  upon  the 
betterment  of  human  nature,  declared  that  religion 
could  have  selected  no  loftier  pattern  of  character 
than  Jesus,  and  that  human  life  would  rise  most 
surely  to  its  highest  point  by  treading  in  his  foot- 
steps. Robert  Browning,  the  robust  wrestler  with 
all  the  questionings  of  this  doubt-haunted  century, 
boldly  declares: 

"I  say  *  *  *  that  God  in  Christ,  accepted  by  thy  reason. 
Solves  all  things  in  the  world  and  out  of  it." 

Chunder  Sen,  the  great  popular  leader  of  the 
Orient,  proclaims  :  "  It  was  not  the  bayonets  of 
England,  but  the  cross  of  Christ,  that  conquered 
India."  Mozoomdar,  the  scholarly  pundit,  insists 
that  no  one  can  enter  sympathetically  into  the  secret 
of  Christ's  nature,  but  one  who,  like  him,  has  been 
cradled  beneath  an  Oriental  sky.  Beaconsfield 
utters  a  glowing  testimony  as  to  the  indebtedness  of 
the  Jewish  race  to  Him  whom  their  fathers  sent  to 
Golgotha  :  "  Have  all  the  princes  of  the  house  of 
David  done  so  much  for  the  Jews  as  that  Prince 


48  Dedicatory  Exercises 

who  was  crucified  on  Calvary?  He  has  made  theirs 
the  most  famous  history  in  the  world.  He  has 
avenged  the  victory  of  Titus,  and  the  conquests  of 
the  Caesars.  Has  he  not  triumphed  over  Europe  ? 
Has  he  not  changed  its  name  into  Christendom  ? 
All  countries  that  refuse  his  cross  wither.  7'he  time 
will  surely  come  when  vast  myriads  of  America  and 
Australia,  looking  upon  Europe  as  Europe  now 
looks  upon  Greece,  wondering  how  so  small  a  space 
could  have  achieved  such  great  deeds,  will  still  find 
music  in  the  songs  of  Sion,  and  still  seek  solace  in 
the  parables  of  Gahlee."  Renan  might  be  skeptic 
as  to  most  things.  He  had  reached  certitude  upon 
at  least  one  point :  "  Whatever  surprises  the  future 
may  hold  in  store,  there  can  be  nothing  that  will 
overshadow  Jesus." 

The  ninth  symphony  of  Beethoven  is  a  marvel- 
ous effort  to  translate  the  meaning  of  existence  into 
melodic  form.  It  is  a  Samsonian  endeavor  to 
wrench  the  gates  of  life's  mystery  from  off  their 
hinges,  and  to  force  a  way  into  the  heart  of  its  cita- 
del. The  many-voiced  clamor  of  that  intense  strife 
which  is  ever  raging  between  man  and  the  limita- 
tions of  his  nature  ;  the  fitful  gleaming  of  the  light 
through  rifted  gloom,  the  harbinger  of  ultimate 
triumph ;  the  lowering,  thickening,  melancholy 
shadows;  the  swelling  yearnings,  the  bitter  defeats, 
the  unconquerable  aspirations  ;  pain  with  its  pang ; 
peace  with  its  balm  ;  beauty  with  its  delights  ;  war 
with  its  enthusiasms ;  duty  with  its  heroisms ;  re- 
solve with  its  steel-strung  determinations;  faith  with 


Dedicatory  Exercises  49 

its  vision  of  the  sun  behind  the  clouds  ;  hope  with 
exultant  pinion,  breasting  the  storm, — all  are  uttered 
with  a  Titanic  mastery  of  musical  expression.  But 
at  last  the  potencies  of  utterance  which  sleep  in 
elemental  nature  reach  their  bound.  The  whisper 
of  the  strings,  the  carol  of  the  wood,  the  blare  of  the 
metal,  all  are  exhausted.  Then  the  climax  comes. 
The  thrill  of  a  human  voice  is  heard.  Melody  is 
clothed  upon  with  personality.  Sound  passes  into 
song.  As  with  the  voice  of  many  waters,  a  mighty 
chorus  pours  forth  in  triumphant  measures  a  hymn 
of  joy.  This  wonderful  music  is  a  parable.  Litera- 
ture discloses  humanity  as  tugging  at  its  tether. 
Philosophy  wings  her  flight  to  the  outposts  of 
thought.  Poetry  flashes  her  keen  intuition  into  the 
depths  of  experience.  History  unrolls  her  mystic 
scroll.  Prophecy  sounds  her  expectant  note.  All 
the  resources  of  earthly  energy  are  spent,  but  the 
heart  is  unappeased,  hungering  for  a  vision  of  the 
unveiled  face  of  truth,  and  battling  for  a  victory 
which  shall  tread  all  evil  into  the  dust;  yearning 
after  the  infinite  with  a  never-sleeping  and  a  never- 
satisfied  desire ;  bending  the  ear  to  catch  a  whisper 
from  the  eternal  one ;  straining  the  gaze  to  behold 
a  glimpse  of  him  who  is  invisible.  Then  the  Word 
becomes  flesh.  The  message  becomes  a  man. 
Eternal  truth  is  written  in  the  alphabet  of  earthly 
life.  Deity  is  expressed  in  terms  of  humanity. 
The  infinite  enters  the  realm  of  the  finite.  The 
enigmas  of  existence  are  lived  into  solution  by 
Christ.    "The  life  is  the  light  of  men."     In  Him 


50  Dedicatory  Exercises 

thought  touches  its  goal.  Sitting  at  His  feet,  the 
soul  enters  into  rest.  Upon  His  bosom  the  heart 
finds  the  pillow  of  peace.  Under  the  spell  of  his 
ever-widening  influence,  the  song  of  the  poet  is 
becoming  the  anthem  of  humanity. 

"Our  little  systems  have  their  day. 

They  have  their  day,  and  cease  to  be; 
For  they  are  broken  lights  of  Thee, 
And  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  more  than  they." 

The  ceremonial  of  this  hour  is  therefore  no  per- 
functory and  formal  rite.  We  are  here  to  kindle  a 
light  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  shall  be  a  beacon  of 
blessing  never  to  be  put  out.  We  are  now  to  touch 
a  key  liberating  dynamic  energies  which  shall  lift 
many  a  burden  from  the  weary  earth.  We  are 
flinging  wide  the  portals  of  splendid  possibility. 
We  are  privileged,  with  a  glad  and  earnest  expec- 
tancy, to  dignify  this  building  as  an  abiding-place  for 
those  "  dead  but  sceptered  sovereigns  who  rule 
our  spirits  from  their  urns."  Within  these  hallowed 
precincts  the  reverent  ear  may  catch  the  whisper  of 
just  such  unearthly  voices  as  those  which  sum- 
moned Joan  of  Arc  from  the  quiet  of  a  sheltered 
life  to  the  field  of  bitter  battle,  and  to  the  glory  of 
a  martyr's  crown.  Within  these  corridors  the 
purged  and  quickened  vision  may  catch  the  gleam 
of  just  such  beckoning  signals  as  those  strange  shore- 
lights  which  flashed  their  invitations  to  the  sea- 
wearied  Columbus  from  the  frontier  lands  of  another 
world.  These  shelves  are  laden  with  the  instru- 
ments whereby  the  student  of  celestial  forces  may, 


Dedicatory  Exercises  51 

like  Galileo,  detect  spheric  movements  beyond  the 
ken  of  the  common  eye. 

It  is  no  inauspicious  omen  that  we  celebrate  this 
festival  in  the  month  of  May.  This  is  the  moment 
of  the  year  when  the  signature  of  promise  is 
stamped  most  plainly  upon  the  earth,  and  the 
prophecies  of  a  golden  future  are  whispered  most 
eloquently  by  every  breeze.  In  this  month,  beyond 
the  Atlantic,  in  that  land  well  christened  by  Haw- 
thorne "  Our  Old  Home,"  they  will  celebrate  the 
birthday  of  a  queen  ;  and  in  the  ancient  capital  of 
earth's  vastest  empire  monarchs  shall  gather  to  place 
the  diadem  upon  the  brow  of  a  Czar.      But 

"Kind  hearts  are  more  than  coronets. 

And  simple  faith  than  Norman  blood." 

And  it  may  be  that,  were  we  keen-sighted  enough 
to  pierce  the  husk  of  things,  and  to  detect  the  rich- 
ness of  the  hidden  kernel,  we  should  discover  that 
the  ostentations  of  imperial  parade  were  eclipsed  by 
the  simple  dignity  of  this  gathering  of  friends, 
assembled  to  recognize  an  act  of  regal  generosity ; 
to  record  their  gratitude  to  the  Source  of  all  good, 
who  endowed  His  servant  with  the  power  and  in- 
spired her  with  the  desire  for  its  achievement ;  and 
with  joyful  solemnities  to  dedicate  to  its  exalted 
uses  this  monumental  structure,  whither  many  a 
company  of  those  who  aspire  to  serve  the  Christ 
shall  resort,  that  they  may  become  furnished  for 
their  royal  ministry, — a  structure  which,  in  Ruskin's 
quaint  and  forceful  phrase,  we  may  aptly  christen 
"A  king's  treasure-house  and  a  queen's  garden." 


52  Description  of  the   Library 

DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    LIBRARY 

THE  Virginia  Library  of  the  McCormick 
Theological  Seminary,  designed  by  Shep- 
ley,  Rutan  and  Coclidge,  is  a  building  146 
feet  long  and  66  feet  in  depth,  built  of 
blue  Bedford  stone,  and  is  designed  in  what  is  some- 
times called  the  "  Hellenic  Renaissance." 

The  Ionic  order  adopted,  with  its  attendant 
details,  is  from  the  celebrated  temple  known  as  the 
Erectheum,  on  the  Acropolis  at  Athens,  and  while 
faithfully  carried  out  in  essentials,  has  been  modified 
only  in  such  particulars  as  the  requirements  of  the 
local  material  necessitated,  without  the  introduction 
of  motifs  foreign  to  the  style,  and  it  may  be  con- 
fidently stated  that  the  building  is  an  essay  in  the 
purest  Greek  architecture,  while  not  a  reproduction 
of  any  ancient  building. 

The  main  entrance,  marked  with  its  tetrastyle 
portico,  the  columns  of  which  are  monoliths  27 
feet  high,  leads  through  the  vestibule  directly  into 
the  hall. 

Opposite  the  entrance  is  the  double  staircase  of 
ornamental  cast-metal  and  marble.  On  the  left  is 
the  stackroom,  a  space  49  feet  by  47  feet,  and  20 
feet  in  height,  and  on  the  right  the  reading-room 
of  the  same  size. 

About  the  hall  are  four  convenient  alcoves  for 
students,  each  with  its  separate  window  and  book- 
cases on  the  two  side  walls. 

The  stackroom   is    perfectly  lighted,  and  has  a 


CROUND     PLAN 

OF 

IHK     \I!<(;1MA 

LIBRARY' 


_-^/ 


Description  of  the   Library  ^2 

capacity  of  40,000  volumes,  which  can  be  raised  to 
70,000  by  a  second  story  of  stacks. 

The  reading-room,  like  the  stackroom,  has  win- 
dows on  the  three  sides,  and  contains  table  accom- 
modation for  about  100  readers.  The  scheme  of 
design  in  this  room  comprehends  a  base,  formed  by 
the  oak  bookcases,  as  high  as  the  window-stools, 
which  will  contain  reference  books,  the  wall  treated 
with  very  flat  pilasters,  and  an  elaborately  detailed 
cornice  and  coffered  ceilings. 

In  color  the  walls  are  treated  in  "old  ivory,"  and 
the  capitals  of  the  pilasters  and  the  carved  and  molded 
members  of  the  cornice  and  coffers  are  decorated  in 
a  brilliant  and  harmonious  scheme  of  polychrome, 
in  which  the  effect  of  gradations  of  color,  or  tints,  is 
obtained  by  the  juxtaposition  of  pure  primary  colors 
rather  than  by  mixing  them  in  the  paintpot. 

The  second  floor,  in  the  central  part  of  the  build- 
ing, is  occupied  by  a  large  room  {36  x;^^)  used  by 
the  Directors  of  the  Seminary  for  their  meetings, 
while  in  the  basement  are  the  necessary  toilet-rooms, 
storage  and  unpacking  rooms,  etc. 

The  best  of  materials  and  workmanship  has  been 
used.  Simplicity  and  convenience  dictated  the  plan, 
and  the  imperishable  forms  of  ancient  art  give  it  its 
architectural  expression. 


Historical   Notes  ^^ 

HISTORICAL    NOTES 

THE  first  gift  to  the  library  of  the  Presby- 
terian Theological  Seminary  of  the  North- 
west was  made  by  Mr.  Hanson  K.  Corning 
of  New  York,  who  was  a  warm  personal 
friend  of  Dr.  Willis  Lord.  He  contributed  ^1,500 
for  the  purpose  of  beginning  a  theological  library  in 
this  Seminary.  Two  other  gentlemen,  living  in  New 
York  and  Brooklyn,  added  ;^500,  and  Mr.  Corning 
subsequently  contributed  ^1,000  more,  making  a 
total,  at  that  time,  of  ^3,000.  With  this  sum  Dr. 
Lord  purchased  about  2,000  volumes.  The  firm  of 
Robert  Carter  and  Brother  of  New  York  contributed 
150  volumes,  and  a  full  set  of  books  of  the  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Publication.  For  the  timely  assist- 
ance of  Mr.  Corning  the  library  then  founded  was 
called  "The  Corning  Library."  It  continued,  with 
moderate  additions  from  time  to  time,  until  1884, 
when  from  the  estate  of  Rev.  William  H.  Van 
Doren,  D.D.,  who  died  in  1882,  was  received,  by 
the  provisions  of  his  will,  his  private  library,  con- 
sisting principally  of  exegetical  works,  to  the  num- 
ber of  1,300  volumes. 

In  1892,  upon  the  death  of  Rev.  Thomas  H. 
Skinner,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  Semi- 
nary, his  library  of  3,000  volumes  was  bequeathed 
to  the  Seminary.  In  1894,  the  Rev.  Edwin  Cone 
Bissell,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Old  Testament  Litera- 
ture and  Exegesis  in  the  Seminary,  died,  bequeath- 
ing to  the  library  a  collection  of  exegetical  works, 
chiefly  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  number  of  volumes  now  upon  the  shelves  is 
about  20,000. 


PRINTED  BY  R.   R.  DONNELLEY  &.  SONS  CO. 

AT  THE  LAKESIDE  PRESS,  CHICAGO,  UNDER 

THE   DIRECTION    OF 

HERBERT   S.    STONE    &   COMPANY 

MDCCCXCVII 


Princeton  Theological   Seminary   Libraries 


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